The Guardian is one of my favorite publications and I’ve been following the story in Ferguson, Missouri. I wanted to take this opportunity to answer some of the points in your post.

Well I am considered “white.” olive skinned is probably more accurate. I am going to have to quibble about building a racist system in the United States. The first member of my family showed up on American shores in 1903. Hmmm, then again being Jewish it is normally “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.” No one in my family was a planter, like Robert E. Lee.

I’ve heard we need to have a national conversation about race, but I will be honest. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Personally, I hope that with what science is learning about DNA and better racial attitudes among the kids this will work itself out in our lifetimes. (My seventeen year old niece sees my generation even discussing race as racist in itself).

I haven’t judged the Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson yet. I want to see all the evidence come out, though his department leaves much to be desired in certainly not protecting and serving, but owning the streets and not releasing the officers name immediately. I would love to hear his side of the story, but for now on, everything is going through lawyers.

Getting Missouri Highway Captain Ron Johnson on the scene was a welcome relief. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson already have Officer Wilson tried and lynched. In a perfect world, not how our system is supposed to work and again, the Ferguson Police Department leaves much to be desired for how they have behaved when this happened.

I have black friends, African-American, Caribbean and from Africa. My Dad raised me to treat people as individuals. If my friends are under attack, I stand up for them. Just that simple.

As for dismantling systematic racism. If I had a clue as to how to do it, I would, but that means I am in Nobel Peace Prize Territory, and I don’t think I’m that good.

Thank you for allowing me to respond.

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About tucsonmike

I am originally from Brooklyn, New York and now live in Tucson, Arizona. I have discovered a passion for writing.
I have five books out now, with a sixth on the way. Take a look @ my book list:
The Search for Livingstone
An Affair of the Heart
The Search for Otzi
Griffith Justice in Space.
Moriarty The Life and Times of a Criminal Genius
Available now on Smashwords - Amazon and Barnes and Noble
As to not bore my public with just "Buy my book," I am also interested in baseball, the outdoors, art, architecture, technology, the human mind and DNA. I learned Ashkenazi Jews, of which I am one, have to lowest rate of Alzheimer's in the world. Therefore, I treat my brain as a muscle needing a workout. I enjoy good food, flirtation, beautiful women (I am happily married for thirty years), so just flirting ;) I was considered autistic when I was young, trying to figure out if I have a mild form of Aspergers and learning from that. That is for future posts. You can also see I love history. Enjoy my sarcastic silly look at the world, and making History more interesting than a textbook.

2 Responses to An Open Letter to Rebecca Carroll of the Guardian.

In a nutshell, I agree with Kareem Abdul Jabbar that the unrest in Ferguson, and, indeed, racism throughout America, is more of a class issue than a race issue. Looking at discrimination as a race issue is over-simplification and entirely off point.